Flavio Briatore has issued a statement following his victory in the Paris court today against the FIA.

Briatore and his Renault F1 colleague Pat Symonds successfully challenged the bans imposed on them by the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council in September 2009 over the Singapore crash fixing scandal.

The Italian made it clear that he respects the FIA as a body and as a sportsman it took a great deal for him to go outside the jurisdiction of the FIA to the civil courts to seek justice. It is highly unusual for a civil court to overrule a sport’s governing body; they tend to rule that the governing body is competent to manage its own processes. But in this case the court agreed with Briatore’s complaints about the way the case was handled.

As for a possible return to F1, Briatore says that this is on hold while he enjoys the moment and reflects on his next move. The FIA has the right of appeal against today’s decision and may well take it.

“I would like to express my great joy with the decision handed down by the Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance (Regional Court), ” said the statement.

“I believe it important for FIA to play the active role it deserves in automobile competition. As a sports person and one passionately involved in car racing for more than 20 years, the decision to apply to the civil courts to contest a decision of the FIA was a difficult one for me to take.

“The fact that the World Automobile Sport Council had been utilized to deal with a personal agenda aimed at pushing me out of the world of competition left me no other choice.

“The decision handed down today restores to me the dignity and freedom that certain people had arbitrarily attempted to deprive me of.

“The Court recognized that all the criticisms I had formulated against the decision of the World Council were founded, by finding that the FIA had:
– rendered a decision that it was not competent to pronounce
– infringed its own articles of association
– totally failed to respect my right to a fair defense
– finally, entrusted the tasks of investigation, prosecution and judgment to a principle player known by all to be hostile to me.

“I believe that justice has been done today.

“Let me take a little time to enjoy this moment of happiness after this difficult period. As concerns my possible return to F1, there is plenty of time to talk about this. I would like first of all to thank the people who remained faithful to me during these difficult moments and who showed me their trust and friendship.”

The fact that he volunteers the subject means that he’s thinking about it very seriously. There is money to be made in F1 these days, thanks to the cost restrictions now imposed. This has attracted businessmen like Gerard Lopez and Tony Fernandes. Briatore knows the ropes far better than both men.

I don’t think that anyone here seriously doubted that… Regards The morals and ethics of the people in F1. They start from the top with people like Bernie / Mosley / Dennis / Todt / Schumacher … Senna even… Alonso too.. And Briatore (you could go on and on) … They’re cut from the same mustard. It’s in their nature to do anything that is required for success; whether that success be on the track, to further their image or for the money. For these type of very successful people whatever their field may be, they do the maximum it takes to achieve their aim. To be successful for these people and particularly in F1 the smartest and most successful will be the one person who can bend the rules and sometimes break them, and for everyone to be none the wiser. If piquet jnr had not brought this to our attention where would we be? Probably all heralding briatore for his charismatic charachter and flavor he brings to the sport. On piquet how can we be sure… 100% sure his word that Briatore was involved Is fact? Symonds basically admitted he was involved and therefore we can be sure of his involvment.. We have these factors as I can see it:Piquet implicating Briatore.An unknown, unnamed witness who’s existence cannot be proven .. To us anyway(not sure about behind closed doors) .. Whose motivations for implicating flavio may be as personally driven as piquets; this we again don’t know.Then we have max, whose motivations for banning Briatore are clear to all.Then we have Briatore who flattly and strongly denies the claims he was aware of what transpired.Telemetry , footage , piquet and symonds have proven it was a planned crash… But i don’t see anyone who is in an objective position to say and prove that Flavio was definetly involved. If he came out tomorrow and said ‘yes’ I knew I authorized it… Banish his scams from motorsport.. He hasn’t yet so we cannot do that. Then how does it make sense that: the 2 people that admitted guilt get; let off… And a smaller 5 year ban? While someone who did not even have an opportunity to defend himself get a life sentence??? It is nonsensical ! He may have , he may not have.. But no one has proven actually either.. Benefit of the doubt I think needs to be given unless some new evidence comes to prove for sure.

Well it must be you, because over 200 people have posted comments in a steady stream in the last 24 hours and there is no sign of any break. The book is excellent and I’ve recommended it to quite a few people.

My guess is there is some form of anti-spam system (which I am triggering somehow) that relies on name or email address and that is why my comments disappear into a black hole – that would explain why it happens regardless of browser or cache/cookie settings.

Glad you found the book useful.

Flav was on Radio 4 “Today program” this morning. I had no idea he was so unintelligible – he doesn’t appear to talk so much as mumble. His grasp of English appears to be poor (not that my Italian is any good).

At the present time, there is no regulation that stops him. The French courts have decided the penalty that was passed onto Briatore was not done in a correct and fair manner, so that decision is void and he is not banned from anything. I just cannot see Briatore coming back, his only ally is Ecclestone and it would not surprise me if the FIA introduced some sort of licensing scheme to cover future attachments to the sport. That way you don’t get the massive legal battle in the courts and the publicity is minimised for the good of the sport.

I cannot fully describe my contempt for the FIA under Mosley but I am very hopeful of what I have seen from Todt. This mess is none of his doing and I believe they are getting their house in order. I fully understand they should not let this decision rest, but there are a lot of simple, easy ways of rending Briatore in a neutered state. We have had what was looking like one of the worst years ever in F1, with manufacturers leaving, McLaren lying and Piquet deliberately smashing into the wall. Then completely over shadowed by the return of Schumacher, the Button move and all the team pair ups causing a lip smacking start to the next season. It would be a disappointment if this is over blighted by more elongated court proceedings.

Briatore calls himself a sports person?! HA! This must be the worst joke of the decade… Along with the French court’s decision. Today French judges practically legitimised cheating, what will they legitimise tomorrow or next week? Killing? :S

I hope, people in motorsports and especially in F1 have more brain than those French judges…